​A bereaved husband is faced with a devastating choice in this gritty thriller from the top ten bestselling author Mandasue Heller.When Frank Peter’s wife Maureen dies, he feels that his once-idyllic life on the Yorkshire Moors is over. And with a daughter emigrating to Australia and a son who has his own marital problems, Frank feels resigned to a life of loneliness. Then one night he finds a frightened young woman hiding at the back of his farmhouse. She explains that her name is Irena and was brought to this country by a man who promised her the world and then forced her into prostitution.

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I wait in anticipation each year for the release of a new Mandasue Heller book. This author for me is one of those authors whose books I don't even read the blurb for. If Mandasue has written it, I want to read it.
I was really looking forward to reading this book and I can safely say, it did not disappoint.
When Frank lost his lovely wife his life seemed broken and lonely. His daughter is emigrating and his son has his own life to live with his wife. Living on a farm makes him seem even more lonely. not having immediate neighbours and someone you can just chit chat to if you go out your front door, Frank seems to have sunken into a slump.
When hearing noises on the farm one night he goes to investigate and comes across a woman who seems to have been injured some how. It's only normal that frank would want to take her in and help her, you cant leave a young lady out in the cold with her injuries. Over the coming days Frank helps Irena get better, in turn she helps Frank and an unlikely bond develops.
But what is Irena hiding and what is Frank going to find out about her, what is going to end up getting involved with.
This was a brilliant read, it showed how loneliness can affect people and make them very vulnerable. How your quiet life can then seem the best life you could wish for.
This book deals with unpleasant issues, but issues that are also real, we sometimes believe that things only happen in fictional stories but this book covers some of life's real yet unpleasant stories.
I think the author has covered abuse, manipulation, gangs, drugs and prostitution in real light, highlighting that as much as we don't want to believe these things happen, it's a daily occurrence for some.
I look forward to the next book.
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When Ellie Fisher misses her train home one night, she has no idea that being in the right place at the wrong time will change her life forever.

That night she comes across Gareth, a young man about to take his own life. As far as he’s concerned there is nothing left to live for. Putting her own life in danger, Ellie convinces Gareth there's always something left. Her own life is no bed of roses, she explains, but she always pushes on.

However, good deeds aren’t always repaid the way we want. Has Ellie unwittingly put her life in danger, or is the real danger a lot closer to home?

What can I say. Mandasue Heller is one of those authors that I don't even bother reading the synopsis of the book to find out what it's about. The authors name on the book is enough for me. The Minute I saw this book was available for review on #Netgally I got so excited, I was even more excited when I was approved to read it.

I love Mandasues books and always have, my favourites being The Front and Tainted Lives. I love books set in and around Manchester as I always feel more involved with the story when you have an idea of an area. Mandasue has a tallent for bringing a real life feel into her fictional characters.
In this book, we meet Ellie Fisher. Right from the off I felt for Ellie, I wanted to have words with her and tell her to open her eyes, to see what was happening to her.
After a while as the story progressed she started to get on my nerves, I couldn't believe that this woman could be so gullible, so... controlled and at times stupid. Then I put the book down and thought about things, and how some women can be and are treated badly by controlling partners, and they don't realise what is going on around them. I then started to feel for her again.
It was a great story line, although I had predicted what was going to happen, and I felt a lot of it was crammed in towards the end. I wanted just that little bit more.
Maybe i'm just greedy, but I felt like something was missing, I didn't feel the usual thrill, the grittiness I usually get from not wanting to put a Mandasue Heller book down.
Yet I still enjoyed it. I still liked it, I feel that as I was screaming and shouting (in my head) at the characters, then the author has done her job getting me involved.
I look forward to seeing what Mandasue has in store for us next.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for a copy of this book, to read and review.

Run by Mandasue Heller is a gritty story of Manchester's criminal underworld.
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After being cheated on by her ex, Leanne Riley is trying her hardest to get her life back on track, which isn't easy without a job and living in a bedsit surrounded by a junkie and a mad woman.
On a night out with her best friend she meets Jake, a face from her past who has changed beyond all recognition. Jake is charming, handsome and loaded, a far cry from the gawky teenager he used to be. Weary of men, Leanne isn't easy to please, but Jake tries his best to break through the wall she's built around herself.
But good looks and money can hide a multitude of sins. Is that good-looking face just a mask? And what's more, what will it take to make it slip, and who will die in the process . . . ?

5/5

A long awaited book, and you know what?
​Well worth the wait.
​The only problem I have now is actually writing a review without giving anything away.
​It's been a while, it seems like forever but I can now reveal.... IT'S WELL WORTH THE WAIT.
Mandasue fans will NOT be disappointed.

​I know i've said i've said it before, I probably will say it again, but I always love books that are set in and around Manchester. I think because I know the area and get more of a feel when places are mentioned.

​This book kicks off with what is to be the main character Leanne out on a night out (one she didn't really want to go on) with her long time best friend Chrissie. As the book went on, I loved the friendship and strong bond these two girls had with each other.
​On this night out, Leanne meets up with a guy they knew from school. You know the one that is always left out and everyone kind of takes the piss out of,,, as kids do.
​Well he's no longer that dork, Pissy Pearce. He's the juicy Jake any girl would drool over And Leanne can't belive how different he is now. Grown up an Gorgeous.

​Leanne is done with men though, after a bad break up and catching her now ex, Dean in bed with someone else, Men are the last thing she's interested in. She's living somewhere she doesn't want to live, it's a dump but it's all she can afford. Her benefits have been stopped and life is just on a down hill slope for her. Her landlord isn't interested in the smell coming from the drains, and everything else wrong with her flat. She's really hit rock bottom.

​Can the meet up with Jake just be what she needed to give herself a lift, but as he left the club with Sally, he's not someone she's going to be getting to know very well is he? But then a chance meet changes things, but is Jake really what he seems to be or is there more to him to than meets the eye. Can Leanne ever find happiness, or is she doomed for a life in a bedsit on the dole.

A Totally gripping read. Once you start you will not want to put this bad boy down.
​In true Mandsue style this book hooks you right from the opening pages and doesn't let go until the very end.
​I had a mixture of feelings throughout this book, I liked and loathed some of the characters, which is always good for me in a book. I think the author has done great when you end up talking or even shouting the characters at things they are doing or saying. Well I was well and truly lost in this book, I started it one day and finished the next, I needed and wanted to keep going.
​It's certainly one of her best books yet, and that's saying something. Gripping and Gritty.
I was super excited to recieve an early copy of this book to read, what an honour it was.
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​If you are going to read this book, then one thing I can advise on is that you really need to make time for it, start it when you have nothing else planned for that day. A cold wet day, curled up on the couch with a duvet, and endless supply of chocs should get you through this in no time.

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